OpenStrands FAQ

General

Q. What is OpenStrands?

OpenStrands is a set of web services that are OAuth-enabled. A web service is a functional component that you can access programmatically over the web using standard internet protocols. For more information, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_services

Q. Who is OpenStrands for?

OpenStrands is for developers interested in adding Strands functionality to their non-commercial applications.

Q. What functionality does OpenStrands offer?

OpenStrands services allow you to programmatically perform many of the same functions available to you through the Strands website using a browser. OpenStrands gives you all the power of the Strands websites in your own applications.

Q. What are the Terms of Service?

The Terms of Service are described here: terms of use

Q. Is there a usage limit?

There is a limit of 100,000 queries per week. This is put in place in order to manage the limited resources more efficiently among the users. If you have plans to develop something more heavyweight please let us now in advance by sending an email to Openstrands-feedback@strands.com and we will consider making exceptions.


Sales

Q. What does it cost to use OpenStrands?

Use of OpenStrands is free to registered Strands users.

Q. Can I develop commercial applications using OpenStrands?

No. OpenStrands is for non-commercial user only. For commercial web services, contact sales@strands.com.


Technical

Q. Does OpenStrands plan to support SOAP?

Not at this time. We may proviIe a SOAP API in the future, if there is significant demand from users. We believe REST is easier to use. For instance, Amazon has both SOAP and REST interfaces to their web services, and reportedly 85% of their usage is of the REST interface.

Q. What is the architecture of the OpenStrands API?

OpenStrands uses the architectural approach to web services known as Representational State Transfer (REST). For more information about REST, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_State_Transfer

OpenStrands web services accept either HTTPS GET or POST requests, with all information encoded in parameter key-value pairs. Every HTTPS request to OpenStrands begins with the base URL: https://api.strands.com/

Q. How do I get started?

All requests to OpenStrands are OAuth requests and require an OAuth Consumer key and secret. You must sign up to be a third-party developer for OpenStrands to obtain your Consumer key and secret: Apply here

You can experiment with OpenStrands requests and responses using nothing more than a Web browser capable of displaying XML documents by visiting our OAuth Sandbox.

Q. What programming languages does OpenStrands support?

You can call OpenStrands services programmatically from any language capable of issuing an HTTPS request and parsing the XML response. All API requests must be an OAuth request. There are already libraries written in a variety of languages to help you create an OAuth consumer application. The official OAuth website has a great list of them.

Q. Where can I get help with OpenStrands?

First, please look at the example source code in the online documentation.

If you still have questions, you may send email to: Openstrands-feedback@strands.com

Since this is a beta service, we cannot guarantee that we will respond to every email we receive, but we do value your feedback and suggestions. You can also join the OpenStrands forums.